Humidifier.



No. 872,38 PATBNTED DEC. 3, 1907.

J. J. SMITH.

HUMIDIFIBR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, 1903.

Mi W M w "NW IIHH 5 I i I I Minesses M Inventor To all whom it may concern:

'humidifying the atmosphere in .water into the air at local UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH J. SMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

HUMIDIFIER.

Be it known that I, Josnrn J. SMITH, a

. citizen of the United States, residing at N ew York city, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful In1 rovements in Humidifiers, of which the folowing specification and accompanying drawing set forth that form of my invention which ,I now re ard the best of the various forms in which t 1e principle of the invention ma be embodied.

igure 1 of the drawing is a vertical section of my apparatus viewed from the front, Fig. 2 is a section transverse to that of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3' is a'detail.

Myinvention relates to an a paratus for iving apartments by means of a contact of all parts of the air in the apartment with a series of absorbent sheets over which water is thoroughly distributed, the object said air to evaporate and carry off the water to the required degree, and to extend this evaporation to as large a part of the air as possible, in distinction from the injection of oints where it may be carried off without ccoming eva orated and so deposited upon surfaces in t e apartment. In an application for patent N 0. 104,266, filed by me on April 23rd, 1902, I show and describe an apparatus by which the air in an apartment may be properly humidified by passing it repeatedly over a series of sheets stretched within a casing and provided with meansby which .water distributed over them.

My present invention relates to certain improvements upon the machine of the said application and serves to simplify and render more effective and reliable the humidifier shown generically therein.

Referrin to the drawing, A represents an uprightpaslng resembling in size and appearance a tall clock, having about the same weight and similarly ortable and self contained, so that it may e conveniently placed in any desired apartment and removed therefrom with equal facility. Within this casing there are stretched a series of vertical sheets B B made of absorbent textile fabric like heavy cheese-cloth, which will readily absorb and'retain moisture. At the upper ends these sheets are respectively looped over a series of horizontal tubes C connected to a distributor D. These tubes C are slit or Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 7 1903. Serial No. 155.988-

being to cause the may be uniformly Patented Dec. 3, 1907.

perforated, as, for example, on their under side (see Fig. 3), the slits or perforations being sufficiently above the level of the water in the distributing tank D, to insure a distribution of the water by means of the tank, and a simultaneous outflow at all of the perforations whenever the level of the water in the tank is raised by the pump. At the lower ends the absorbent sheets B B are looped over rods E E which are held respec-' tively in notches cut on the under side of retaining pieces F F attached to the opposite sides of the interior portion of the casing.

. In the enlarged up er ortion of the easing there is containe a b ower G having its axis horizontal and operated b an electric motor H secured to and uphel by the casing of the blower and having its commutator end projecting through the front of the easing so that the commutator can be readily inspected and the brushes renewed without opening the casing. This arrangement avoids the use of such a shield or deflector as is shown in my former application to protect the motor and blower ,froin the falling water from the sheets. The shaft of the blower stands transversely to the planes in which the vertical absorbent sheets B B are situated. This allows the incoming air blast taken in through the 0 en top of the casing to be s lit up and divi ed by the sheets into a num er of streams which pass respectively through the parallel passages into which the interior of the casing 1s divided by the sheets. The flow of the air is downward, which permits of the incoming air being taken from the upper ggrt of the room, where the temperature is 'gher and its absorbent capacity greater. The air is delivered again into the apartment from the lower end of the casing, which insures its being delivered into the portions of the apartment occu ied by the persons therein andby other 0 jects which reuire a moist atmosphere. 'I he downward raft causes the air to collect in the lower portion of the casing depositing there any unevaporated water, whence it finds its exit into the'apartment by the openings J J in the removable front 'K. In the bottom of the casing is a tank L, serving both as the source of supply and as a drip tank for receiving any excess of moisture flowing from the sheets B B. This arrangement also allows the water in the air to be blown into the tank which is in line with the blast. Directly over the tankis the pump P supported from the rear wall of the casing by the bracket Q. The intake pipe R of the pump P communicates with the tank and the outflow pipe S leads up to the distributer D. The pump is of a reciprocating type, serving to deliver the water to the distributer D by a series of impulses, each of which causes a rise in the level of the water in the distributer D and produces a simultaneous flow into each of the perforated tubes C. The pump is operated by a long connecting rod '1 extending down between two of the absorbent sheets and connected at its upper end to a crank shaft journaled in standard V and driven from the motor by a belt which surrounds the grooved wheel W' of the crank shaft and the small pulley X on the motor shaft inside of the bearing Y of the said shaft. By this arrangement the pump supports the column of water inthe outflow pipe S from below instead of relying on suction from above, while at the same time the belt, required for the drive from the small, high-speed motor, is contained only in the upper part of the casing above the Wet sheets so as to be unaffected thereby, while the connecting rod, extending down through the sheets to the pump, is unaffected by the moisture. The pumping apparatus thus described runs silently, with a minute amount of power and is not disarranged by the stretching and-=slipping of belts exposed to moisture The apparatus described constitutes an extremely s1m le and effective device which is portable an self-contained and by means of which the moisture is thoroughlyand uniformly distributed over the large surface formed by the multiplicity of passages intervening between the sheets, and the air is thoroughly sub-divided within the apparatus, so as to be all exposed to the evaporating process. Moreover, the air of the apartment is repeatedly passed through the apparatus, it being the practice to provide that the entire atmosphericcontents of the room shall go through the humidifier every hour. The operation is further facilitated by the separation between the inlet and outlet openings in the casing which provides for an intake of the air at a point remote from the outflow. This also insures a thorough agitation and mingling of the air throughout the entire apartment, as well as the passage of the whole of the air through the apparatus.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A humidifying apparatus for apart-- ments, compris ng a vertical casing with openings at opposite ends communicating with the apartment to be treated, to receive air from the upper part of said apartment and discharge the air into the lower part of the same, a series of absorbent sheets dividing the easing into a series of longitudinal side by side passages between the said inlet and outlet openings, a drip tank below the said sheets, means for distributing water to the upper ends of said sheets, and a blower for dellvering air currentsin a downward di-\ rection fom the inlet to the outlet, through the passages formed by the said sheets.

2. A humidifying apparatus for apartments, com rising a vertical casing with inlet and out et openings at its opposite ends respectively, both openings communicating with the apartment to be treated, to receive air from the upper part of said apartment and discharge the air into the lower part'of the same, a series of absorbent sheets dividing the easing into a series of longitudinal side by side passages between said inlet and outlet openings, a tank in the lower part of the casing below the said sheets to receive the drip therefrom, means for distributing water to the upper'ends of said sheets, and a blower located in the casing above said sheets and delivering air currents in a downwardvdirection from the inlet to the outlet openings in the casing. 7

3. A humidifying apparatus for apartments, comprising an upright casing having an inlet opening at its upper end and an outlet opening at its lower end, both openings communicating with the apartment to be treated, whereby the incoming air may *be' taken from the upper part of the apartment, a series of absorbent sheets dividing the casing into a series of sideby side passages between its inlet and outlet openings, means for supporting the sheets'and for distributing water to the upper ends of said sheets, and a blower producing a downward aircurrent from the inlet opening, which current is sub divided'into the side by side passages and delivered into the apartment fron theoutlet opening in the lower part of the casing 4. A' humidifying apparatus for apartments, comprising a casing having its inlet and outlet openings both communicating with the apartment to be treated, a series of absorbent sheets dividing the casing into a series of side by side passages between its inlet and outlet openings, a combined drip and supply tank in the lower part of the casing, a blower and motor in the upper,,part of the casing above said sheets, a pump in the lower part of the casing communicating v with the said tank on one side and on the other side with the upper ends of the sheets, and operating-connections for the pump excasing to the pump at the other end.

5. A humidifying apparatus for apartalso at the lower end of the casing, a motor tendingfrom'the motor at one end of the ,tank at the lower end of the casing, a pump I i and blower at the ifipper end of the casing,

and a connecting ro operated by the motor and extending downward --to the pump at the lower end of the casing.

6. A humidifying apparatus for apartments, comprising an upright casing with inlet and outlet openings at its opposite ends, both openings communicating with the a artment to be treated, a series of sheets dividing the intermediate portion of the casing into side by side passages, a motor and blower contained in the upper part of the a casing above the said sheets, a tank and pump in the lower end of the casing, the

intake side of the pump Communicating with the said tank and its outflow side,

rnents, comprlslng an upright casing with mlet and outletopenings at its opposite ends communicating with the apartment to be treated, a series of absorbent sheets dividing the casing between the said inlet and outlet openings into side by side passages, a

drip-tank below the said sheets, a blower mounted above the sheets, an operating motor mounted on the blower casing, a ump in the lower part of the apparatus ii'aving its outflow pipe communicating with the upper end of the said sheets, and operating connections for the ump driven from the motor shaft throug an intermediate shaft and communicating with the pump at the lower part of the casing.

8. A portable humidifying apparatus for apartments .comprising a vertical casing opening at both ends into the a artment to be treated, a series of absor ent sheets dividing the intermediate part of the casing between the said openings into side b side passages, a drip-tank below the said s eets, motor-su plying and distributing devices for said s eets and a blower directing an aircurrent downward along said sheets toward said tank.

In witness whereof I have'hereunto 'set my name, before two subscribing witnesses, this 21st day of April 1903.

' JOS. J. SMITH.

Witnesses:

G. W. HOPKINS, L. T. SHAW. 

